Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins

by Noel B. Reynolds (editor)

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints view the Book of Mormon as scripture written by ancient prophets, while critics believe that it is a 19th-century fraud. The 15 essays in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited present the latest research by LDS scholars on the question in an effort to demonstrate that the weight of scholarly evidence is on the side of authenticity.

Part 1 contains essays dealing with accounts of how the book was produced in 1829 and 1830, with emphasis on the translation process and the witnesses who saw the plates. Part 2 takes a look at the logical structure of the authorship debate and reviews the history of alternative theories and criticisms of the Book of Mormon. Part 3 presents textual studies that demonstrate the plausibility of the Book of Mormon as an ancient book, and part 4 updates scholars attempts to understand the ancient cultural and geographic setting of the book in both the Old and New Worlds.

Genres: Religion, Lds, History, Mormonism, Nonfiction

574 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Noel B. Reynolds is a professor emeritus of political science of Brigham Young University. He grew up in Cody, Wyoming, and served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Uruguay and Argentina from 1961 to 1964. Reynolds received his MA and PhD from Harvard University. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Edinburgh University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Reynolds was one of the editors of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992 by Macmillan. Reynolds has published books and articles in several fields, including legal and political philosophy, American founding, authorship studies, ancient studies and Dead Sea Scrolls, and Mormon studies. Among other callings in the LDS Church, Reynolds has served as president of the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple and as a bishop and stake president. From 2005 to 2008, Reynolds was the president of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission. Reynolds is married to the former Sydney Sharon Smith. They are the parents of eleven children.

from https://rsc.byu.edu/authors/reynolds-...
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_B....

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As can easily be seen, it took me a very long time to finish this book. There is a lot of good information here and very well-researched and well-reasoned arguments defending many common anti-Mormon arguments against the proposition that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon just as he claimed. No one who wants to criticize the Book of Mormon can legitimately do so without having carefully read this book and taken its arguments seriously. However, it is very tedious to read. As many other reviewers noted, it not easily accessible to the average LDS, nor non-LDS reader, so I am really not so sure how useful it is. This book is a good example of how most academics and scholars seem to have a tendency to talk (or write) to each other too much and they don't employ their great knowledge and skills and powers of reason to benefit a larger portion of society. It would be nice if some of these very talented and faithful minds could find a way to get their messages out to a greater portion of the population. I suppose that would also require a greater portion of the population to show an interest in such things. Fair enough.

[David Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in the 90’s. It was good to revisit topics from the Book of Mormon. I enjoyed the topics and was written.

[Kip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave me insights into how complex the underlying culture described in the Book of Mormon could potentially be. We tend to read it and reflect our own society in the way things are described, and Joseph Smith has been accused of writting the boo

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very scholarly. A lot of good information here. However, I found this volume less accessible than its predecessor, Book of Mormon Authorship. Much of it was very dense and tedious for a lay person such as myself.

[Ernie Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Really buzzed on this book. This book raised LDS scholarship to a much higher level than what is normally encountered.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the chapters on chiasmus and the three witnesses. Got lost in the war stuff.

[Josh Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of scholarly articles regarding the origin of the Book of Mormon

[Brent Woodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read for a mormon

[Sally]

See ch 11: chiasmus in BoM